


A Bath for the Weary Traveler

by BelleofHell



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, Rune Factory 4
Genre: Gen, Travel, baths, idk man there's not really much to tag this as, its cute tho, the bathhouse gals, the timeline confuses me man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22059496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleofHell/pseuds/BelleofHell
Summary: A fic for the Secret Santa event hosted on tumblr by @runefactorysecretsanta! My entry is a present for @piaofsharance.After retiring, Melody decides she wants to see all of Norad. And of course, take some baths along the way.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	A Bath for the Weary Traveler

Melody sighed as she sunk further into the warm water. A good bath did wonders for her creaking, aching bones.

When she first popped the idea of taking a vacation and traveling across Norad, her loved ones were skeptical. Rightfully so, maybe, but just because Melody was getting up there in years didn’t mean she was going to become boring! She was retired, anyway, and getting antsy. There was too much time and not enough activities in Kardia to fill it. Before long, her things were packed and she was on her way.

It was far from Melody’s first grand cross-country adventure. There were several times in her youth that she spent time on the road, specifically scouting out potential hot spring locations. But maybe-just maybe-she underestimated what she could handle at her age. She wasn’t ancient. At least, she preferred not to think she was, but the years had worn on her just as they did her friends. Graying hair, wrinkles, a slouched posture. They all wore the signs of a life well-lived. Melody wasn’t ashamed of her age, but it was still an inconvenience.

Her first stop was Alvarna. She was excited for the beautiful scenery and to say hi to little Ceci. Who wasn’t really so little anymore, with a family and friends all her own. Gods, the years really had flown by.

Alvarna was a peaceful, quaint village. It reminded her so much of Kardia. The worn stone pathways, the quiet little shops, the prosperous farm on the end of town. It made her homesick.

And the school! The school was borderline breathtaking. Melody didn’t go inside, but from the outside it looked massive. Probably bigger than a town that size needed, and definitely bigger than many of the homes in Alvarna put together. She hoped that Kardia would eventually be big enough to warrant a school. Melody could think of several villagers in town who would make great teachers. Tori, for one. She’d come out of her shell a lot since their younger days and Melody hardly understood half the words Tori used.

But the best part of visiting any new town, in Melody’s humble opinion, was checking out the bathhouse. Her reasoning used to be for scouting out the competition, but now it was purely for pleasure.

And what a pleasurable experience it was! Melody would give this place a five star rating. She’d never seen a cleaner bathhouse in her life. She couldn’t even manage to keep her own bathhouse as spotless as this owner seemed to keep hers. What was her name again? Julie or Julia or something similar. The steamy air and flowery scents were getting to Melody’s head and making it hard to think. Another sign of an _excellent_ bathhouse.

After soaking for an amount of time that Melody both didn’t want and didn’t care to count, she finally rose from the water and began the tedious task of drying off and redressing. By far the worst part of any bath. Sure, you feel refreshed, but at the cost of finally leaving the calming parallel world of a public bath behind.

When Melody exited the bath area, she was surprised to see a teen girl behind the counter and the owner nowhere in sight. The girl looked too old to be the owner’s daughter. She was probably just an employee, or maybe an apprentice training to take over the business one day.

The girl perked up when she saw Melody enter the room. “Hiya!” she chirped. “Did you like your bath?”

Melody couldn’t help the wide smile that overtook her face. The girl’s energy, along with her pink pigtails, reminded her so much of herself when she was younger.

“I did, thank you,” Melody replied. “Can I ask where the woman who was here before went?”

“Oh, yeah, Julia went upstairs to check inventory. She used to live up there but ever since she got married we mostly just use it to keep extra stuff for the batthouse. All her furniture is still there though. She’ll leave soon to go home with her family and I’ll lock up myself. My name’s Cammy, by the way! What’s yours?”

Melody smirked. The girl was a blabbermouth too. They really did have a fair amount in common. “My name’s Melody. I’ll admit, I would have had way too much fun when I was your age if I had friends and access to a whole bathhouse and a home upstairs.”

Cammy’s cheeks dusted red, but she smiled unapologetically. “Guilty as charged.”

“Cammy, I’m heading home now. Don’t forget to lock the door when you close up.”

Melody looked up to see Julia descending the stairs, content smile on her face. It only grew larger when she saw Melody. “Oh, hello. Did you enjoy your bath?”

“Best I’ve had in ages,” Melody answered honestly.

She chatted with the two other women for a few more minutes before finally making the trek back to the inn. She wondered if her next bathhouse trip would be so pleasant.

-

Melody’s next bath was to _die_ for.

The bathhouse was connected to the inn she was staying at, which was a brilliant business move, in her opinion. The scenery outside was gorgeous, with a little bridge leading up to the entrance. The architecture was Eastern-styled, a design choice one didn’t see too much of in Norad.

The bath was just as wonderful as the building itself. The room was steamy, but not suffocating. The water was hot, but not scalding. The only aspect of her experience that Melody felt she could dock points on was the service.

“Hello, lady! Are you having fun in there?” A head of fluffy pink hair peeked into the room, eyes wide and questioning. “I have some toy fish you can use if you’re not having fun!”

Melody sighed. Pia seemed like a sweet girl, and she couldn’t get mad at her for being enthusiastic. But a part of what makes a bath enjoyable is the peacefulness. It didn’t help that the other girl-

“Pia!” the other girl’s light voice chirped from the doorway. “Stop bugging our guest!” She pushed her way past Pia into the room. “I’m very sorry, ma’am. If you stop by my gift shop when you’re all done I _might_ give you a discount to make up for the interruption. I’ll be waiting!” With that, she turned and pushed Pia, not roughly, out the door and followed.

That was the _third_ time they’d come into the room.

Melody had paid for the bath by talking to Pia, so she hadn’t caught the other girl’s name. Pia was all too happy to introduce herself and hadn’t been as eager to learn Melody’s name in return. Her main priority was getting her in the bath as quickly as possible.

The other girl raised her voice as Melody walked towards the bath and said she should stop by the gift shop when she’s done. Then went on to mention it every time the two of them interrupted her bath.

At least they were passionate about their jobs. Even if they were a little overly-excited.

Maybe the next place would be calmer.

-

Melody would never call Selphia _calm_.

It was a bustling city, one of the biggest in Norad. Everyone was still friendly, though. If Melody wanted to live in a city, she would probably pick Selphia. The people were lively and the businesses were bustling. The tall trees and the quiet river looked like they had a million stories they could tell.

The inn was easy to find. And luckily for Melody, it was attached to a bathhouse just like the one in Sharance was. After a long few days of traveling, she was ready for a long soak and a nice nap.

A crash came from inside, and Melody felt her hopes dwindle.

The interior of the hotel was honestly just as nice as the exterior. The only blemish was the poor girl who looked like she’d just fallen down the stairs with a stack of plates.

“Xiao Pai! Are you alright?” A woman rushed to the girl’s side. Based on the woman’s appearance, Melody assumed they must be related somehow. Sisters, maybe.

The girl, Xiao Pai, groaned and rubbed her elbow. She must have hit it on her way down. “Yeah, Mama, I’m fine. I will be cleaning up these dishes, yes?” Huh. Melody didn’t think the woman looked old enough to be the girl’s mother, but looks can be deceiving.

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about it. Go rest at the counter and I’ll clean it for you.”

Xiao Pai, looking very put out, nodded and thanked her mother, then went to watch the front desk.

There were other people milling around the lobby, but none had paid the incident much attention. Melody wondered if this sort of thing was common.

Melody strode up to the desk. She was tempted to ask if Xiao Pai was alright, but decided against it. She didn’t want to embarrass the poor girl any further. “Hello,” she greeted. The girl straightened and put on a smile when she approached. “I’d like to pay for a room for two nights.”

“Of course! You would be liking to use the bath, yes?”

“Uh… yes?”

Xiao Pai thanked her and Melody handed over the payment. By the time she made it over to the stairs to go to her room, the glass was almost completely picked up. After dropping off her things in her room, she went down to the bath.

It was probably the most stunning bath she’d ever seen. The water was clear and a beautiful shade of blue, flowing from a large fountain in the corner. There was a nice space to change and store your clothes. It was heaven.

Traveling was fun, Melody thought as she rested in the bath. Fun, but exhausting. She was ready to go home, back to Kardia with her quaint little bathhouse. She missed her family and her friends. She went on a journey to meet new people and to rejuvenate her spirit, and she did that. She talked to more people than she could ever hope to remember and took a _lot_ of rejuvenating baths.

Now, she was ready to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! I should probably give this one more edit, but I'll get to that later.
> 
> Writing an older Melody was... interesting. I tried to make her more mature and subdued while still retaining her personality. Hopefully I captured that!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
